Month: April 2018

As I said, there will be quite a few posts, this time an update on the boxes
I have gotten this year.

First out is Eldorado Gate, a SEVEN part RPG released on Dreamcast, I have
always been interested in this and always wanted to get the limited box
with all seven games. A friend finally sold his copy to me last month,
many thanks!

The box is a darker green but the camera can’t capture it sadly.
It’s actually made in plastic and not the usual cardboard.

All the games (yes they all have their “spine”) and a small booklet with
Yoshitaka Amano art.

As a bonus I got this one from the same friend:

One of the few boxes like this released on SFC, Angelique Premium box,
a nice item to have in the collection.

Actually from the same friend once again, haha,
my number one supplier of boxes this year:

Officially my first Vita game, I already have the PS4 version
of the game and just wanted the box.

A bit expensive but I do love it, the figurines and the pop-up book
are the best! (even if a real artbook would be even better)

Lastly we have this monster:

There is plenty of pictures to find on the internet so I didn’t bother to
photo the inside but it is filled to the brim, a massive artbook, music box,
Vinyl disc, a pop-up background-screen, making of disc, steelbook! Phew!

I had to do some rearranging to make room for all of these, I should maybe
take some new overview pictures soon.

Next up we have even more soundtracks followed by a crazy Xeno update,
stay tuned!

Just a short but cool update today with the latest Xeno items, some of them
arrived a while ago but I wanted to wait until they all got here.

First we have a dual-sided poster from Episode I.II, the DS game:

I regret not getting this a few years ago, not expensive but hard to find.
It only came with a magazine and sadly all copies are folded like this,
still, a really lovely picture with some even more lovely colors.

Next out something that has been high up on my wanted list for years,
the US Episode II promo poster! It is a bit damaged, I paid way too much
including the shipping and custom fees but I’m very happy to finally
cross this of the list, a really nice seller too!

I don’t think I have seen one of these since my early collecting days,
also from the US and not really a poster but a promo cut-out from
Episode III!! You know I love my Episode III items and this one was a
surprise and not really on my list, yay. The “U-DO” colors man!
A big thanks to this seller as well!

Does anyone from the US know if there was another one like this
but promoting the T-elos poster instead?

That’s all for today but both more Xeno and another
soundtrack post is coming up very soon!

Before anyone becomes too excited or jealous, no I was not in Japan or the
20th anniversary concert of Xenogears but we have to at least mention it
of course. Firstly, I have seen the recording of the concert and it was
absolutely amazing watching it on the projector, I am eternally grateful
that they decided to record it even if the distribution method leaves
much to be desired… I still cross my fingers for a real blu-ray release.

Secondly the arrangements and the performances were just the best,
I do love Creid and Myth but this was the versions I always wanted to hear,
very true to the original and finally, FINALLY I get to hear Grahf’s theme
in something else than MIDI. Ahhh.

I could go on and on about this but I would just recommend you to watch it
yourself instead. 10/10, a dream.

Also, seeing this I would probably just have stolen it and left the country
before the concert even began, haha:

As consolation there was actually a video game concert here in Sweden
the same day. Me, my sister and her boyfriend all went, seeing Xenosaga
on the “track list” was more than enough to convince us:

I have no pictures from the event but it was in Berwaldhallen, Stockholm,
a nice hall it was, better sound quality in the room itself than the other
concerts I have been to.

A short summary:

-Sonic did not translate well to orchestra
-Wizardry was surprising, not too many have a relation to that over here
-Ni no Kuni was fantastic even if I’m a bit tired of the main theme at
the moment, hehe
-Suikoden was a magnificent highlight, still can’t believe how well the
orchestra did
-Secret of Mana, I have heard this performed better before but still nice
-The Megaman medley was a bit hard to keep track of since it included many
tracks from the NES games but no complaints,
works much better than Sonic in this form

The second act introduced the choir and man did they do a good job with:

-Suikoden II, goosebumps all over, 10/10!
-Last Guardian, even though I just saw my brother beat it and beat it
myself on release I have no feelings for the music.
-Shadow of the Colossus, again the orchestra did an absolutely
fantastic job, so well-performed.
-Xenosaga Gnosis, another dream to hear Xenosaga LIVE, not the most
exciting track BUT still amazing, I have heard the music hundreds of
times but detected no flaws in the performance, pure bliss.
-Xenosaga The Miracle, short and intense, love this in the game but it
became a bit to messy when all instruments and the choir blasted away
in the second half. Still, unreal to hear it live at all just not
perfection like Gnosis or Suikoden.
-Final Fantasy IX medley, sadly a bit messy and a strange choice of
tracks but hearing the ending sequence from the final scene in the game
LIVE was VERY unexpected.
-Liberi Fatali, I have heard this one as well performed live before but
it never gets old for me when the big drums and choir go at it at the
same time!

They also played a Zelda and a Mario song as bonuses, not bad!

A really nice concert with a good mix! I wanted to write about something
else between my “loot” posts because there will be quite a few if all
goes well, at the moment importing things to Sweden is next to impossible
and I’m a bit worried about some incoming items… I do have a few already
arrived ones to post in the meantime at least!